Actel pushes FPGA prices below 50 cents

One of the most active areas for FPGA development of late has the least to do with most people’s impression of FPGAs: the extreme low-cost, low-power end of the device spectrum. Today Actel pushed its Igloo and ProASIC3 families of Flash-based, very-low-standby-power chips deeper into this territory with what the company terms the nano line of products. The devices further reduce standby power levels for small- to medium-scale FPGAs, while also introducing a new 3×3 mm package size, an enhanced known-good-die program, and pricing that for the first time takes an entry-level device, a 10k-gate bare die, to $0.49 each in quantity.

 The thrust of the new product line is the need for glue logic, bus interface logic and "companion chips" to customize of correct errors in SoCs, all in the consumer electronics space. This application area had once been entirely off limits to FPGAs because of the unrelenting pressure on bill-of-materials cost and power consumption. But Actel is arguing that if you look at total cost of ownership rather than BoM cost, an FPGA at less that a dollar can be significantly cheaper than a few cents worth of glue logic that may require multiple vendors, multiple package insertions, and multiple iterations for slightly different end-products. By the time you are looking at adding a few thousand gates to an SoC to correct or add a function, it’s no contest—a buck or so for an FPGA with negligible standby power is a big win over respinning an SoC mask set.

"We don’t see system designers’ use of ASICs and ASSPs changing," explained Rich Kapusta, Actel vice president of marketing and business development. "But we do see designers asking if they can add a little bit of programmability to their system designs without incurring unacceptable cost, power consumption, or board space. That’s what we are offering."

The company has significant numbers to report in each of these three areas. The smallest Igloo nano parts, at about 10K gates, are as mentioned under 50 cents as bare dice (69 cents in a package.) They consume under 2 microW standby, and are available in the new 3×3 mm package. Since these are FPGA-based devices, they are active at power-up and require no external program storage. Larger devices of course vary in power, cost, and package options.

In a related change, Actel is expanding the operating temperature range for the Igloo nano parts (not the ProASIC3 nano parts, however) to -20 to +70 C. This is primarily for the benefit of applications that must be operable at below freezing—such as any media player used in the northern US or Canada in the winter.

Finally, in recognition that many consumer-electronics customers will use FPGAs only as part of a SiP, Actel is formalizing their known-good-die capability. The company has in fact been supplying tested bare dice to some customers already. But it says it will now deliver at least some Igloo and ProASIC known good dice from stock.